


Unimatrix Zero

by orphan_account



Category: Star Trek: Voyager
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-19
Updated: 2020-04-16
Packaged: 2020-10-21 15:47:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 4,910
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20696045
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: What did the Borg Queen mean when she said "See you soon, Harry"? When the Queen is furious that the Captain won't back down on her plans to help those in the collective, she transports Kim to her cube where she attempts to question and assimulate him. Will Janeway find a way to get her crewman back, before it's too late?





	1. Prologue

_"We'll see you soon, Harry," the Borg Queen spoke, after a pause. Harry swallowed, and then glanced back at the two commanding officers behind him._

_"What did she mean by *that*?" He asked, trying not to show fear. _

_Chakotay and Janeway gave each other concerned looks._

_Chakotay leaned into Janeway._

_"Why the sudden stab at diplomacy?" He asked, and Janeway glanced at the screen, with a thoughtful expression._

_"She's worried, have B'Elanna and Tuvok meet me in sickbay," she responded, and left-doing her best to hide her own nerves._

* * *

The doctor had ordered them to wait for a day before they went on their trip. He wanted to wait to catch the queen off guard, as much as possible, and make sure the moniters were properly in tact. The crew was unsettled during this waiting period.

"I don't like it," Tom griped to Harry as they headed to their quarters."I don't like B'Elanna going."

"You knew who she was when you began to date her," Harry argued. "You know how passionate she is. And loyal."

"But it's still dangerous," Tom persisted. "So dangerous. Do you really think this is worth it? Us getting in the middle of a borg civil war?"

Harry sighed, as he looked at his best friend.

"If it means saving lives, then yes. That's what Starfleet does, Tom."

Tom shook his head.

"I still don't like it," he muttered,and Harry patted him on the shoulder.

"Don't worry. If anyone can take care of hersef, it's B'Elanna," he told Paris, who gave him a hopeful smile. Harry took a deep breath as he entered his place. He could always relax when he was alone,without worrying about what was protocal, or if he was too uptight. He could just be, himself. He normally played his clarinet before going to sleep, but exhaustion overcame him as he collapsed in his bed. 

Before he managed to close his eyes he looked up to see a green color filling his room. He tried to sit up as the green scanner passed over his body.

While he stumbled to his feet, he blinked, and looked around-jarred from the change. His throat went dry, however, when he saw who was standing in front of him.

It was none other than the Borg queen herself...


	2. Chapter 2

Harry tried to swallow, but he was too frozen to allow his body to do that. The Queen smiled, a truimph kind of smile. 

"Aren't you going to say anything,Harry?" She all but purred. Harry did manage to swallow, and opened his mouth.

"Is..."

"This a dream?" She shook her head. "That is a very common question, to people we select to be assimulated."

Harry froze, again, and felt fear embedded in him.

"Assimulate..."

"Yes," she replied. "But you might be spared that, then again..."She paused. "I'm not sure if it is a kindness to spare you." Harry's breathing was picking up speed as she walked closer to him, and he tried to regain his composure.

"Why wouldn't it be a kindness?" He asked, and cringed as she traced her finger across Harry's cheeks.

"Because I do feel sorry for you," she tsked. "You haven't reached your fullest potiental. You could...if you were with us. You'd be a great asset, Harry Kim. I'm not sure if the Captain values you as much as I would."

Harry flushed, a bit, as he remembered Tom getting promoted again, before he did. He tried to bury that feeling of hurt deep inside of him, but it still nagged at him-like an itch that wouldn't go away.

The queen gave a bemused smile, as if she knew she was right. 

"This is your one chance," she told him. "To be willingly assimulated. It would be a lot less painful if you just agreed to it." Suddenly his loyality kicked into high gear, and he narrowed his eyes-more annoyed at himself for almost falling for her laying out his insecurities like that. 

"I'd like to keep my mind to myself," he rebuffed, with a curt nod. "Thanks anyway."

A flash of anger appeared in the queens eyes, momentarily catching him off guard.

"I wouldn't do that, if I were you," she warned him. "You'd regret it. Think of it. To be in perfect harmony with the others. To be complete, and whole..."

"I'm already whole," Harry sneered. "And besides, I don't think the drones all agree with you. If that place exists, like it does." 

He saw her clench her fists and felt satisfied he had hit it where it hurt, like she did to him.

"Get Captain Janeway on screen, _now_," she snarled, and he allowed himself to shake on the inside, almost regretting angering her like that.

He watched, as he saw Janeway appear, and homesickness took over him. He saw the shock in the Captain's eyes, and felt comforted, a bit, she seemed honestly upset to see Harry in this position.

"_Release him now_," Janeway growled at her, with such intensity it surprised even Harry. "_I don't know how you got my crewmember transported_," Janeway continued with a sneer. "But _you would do well to RELEASE him, unless you want Voyagers *full* wrath."_

"Why would I want to do that?" The queen hummed, plainly pleased by Janeway's reaction. "I need to question him first. Plus, it would be a disgrace to waste such a potential addition to the collective."

"Don't you touch him!" Janeway's guard was let down, as Harry watched her rage building on her face. "If you lay one hand on that crewman..that will be the Borgs undoing."

The queen was momentarily surprised into silence by that response, but then continued.

"You would really risk Voyagers welfare for the life of *one* individual?" She pressed, showing honest bewilderment. "What of the need of the many outweigh the need of the few?"

"Vulcan logic or not," Janeway shot back. "Starfleet's motto is not leaving a starfleet officer behind. Yes EACH Life is important. Including Mr. Kims. Now _release him immediatly, and you will be spared_."

Harry felt perspiration during this exchange as he realized the queen wasn't backing down. He didn't want Voyager to get destroyed because of him. He turned to look at the queen, and then at The Captain.

A thought clicked inside of him. As an officer of Voyager, he was part of Voyagers defense team.It was part of his job to protect the lives on that ship. And he knew that Voyager would be no match for the Borg. He swallowed, and intervened as quickly as possible.

"I've changed my mind," he suddenly said. Both the Queen, and Janeway, looked at him.

"What?" Janeway looked confused, and Harry tried to ignore that as he looked at the Queen.

"I'd like to be assimulated," he finally spoke, slowly. "If the offer still stands." He tried to hide his face paling at the mere thought of assimulation as the Queen stared at him in surprise wonder, while he heard gasping from different officers on Voyager.

"Mr. Kim," Seven finally said, as she moved closer to the screen. She had been at Harry's position on the bridge, studying the interaction with great detail ."You don't know what you are saying."

Harry ignored her, and spoke to the queen again.

"You are right, the idea of not being alone all the time...that sounds appealing." The queen was slowly taking it all in, while nodding, and smiling almost a proud smile.

Janeway just stared, in utter shock. Chakotay spoke, this time.

"Harry, you don't mean that," he persisted. Harry had to look at his first officer, and saw Janeway standing there, frozen-and speechless.

"I do Commander," he told Chakotay. "It's the only way," he added, slowly, and he saw Chakotay frown, and study him carefully,

"That took an unexpected turn of events!" The Queen finally spoke. And then looked at the frozen Janeway, still smiling. "It looks like you won't be needing your crewman after all, Captain."

With that she turned off the screen, and looked at Harry with a fondness that made Harry's skin crawl.

"Welcome to your new life," she told him,and it was then that, for him, everything went black...


	3. Chapter 3

Janeway, and the others, went into the ready room.

"Harry wouldn't..." Tom spoke up. He had heard, from Chakotay what was going on. Both he and B'Elanna were in utter shock. So was Janeway, who had been rendered speechless.

"Why would he even *suggest* something like that?" B'Elanna demanded.

Chakotay rubbed his hand over his forehead.

"I don't know," he admitted. "He did say...it was the only way." He glanced at the Captain, who was sitting-staring into space.

"Kathryn?" He pressed. "Are you going to be all right?"

It was then, that Janeway somewhat snapped out of it

"Yes," she softly replied. "I think so."

She swallowed, as her mind drifted back to Kim, and how terrified he looked.

_Why would he want to be assimulated? It felt so out of character for him!_

She refused to let herself cry. They needed her to be strong. Tom spoke again, almost in desperate attempt to fix the situation.

"Are you sure that's *exactly* what he said, Chakotay?" Chakotay sighed, trying to stop his annoyance from surfacing.

"Yes..."

"What else was going on?" Tom urged. "What were Janeway, and the Queen talking about?"

Seven frowned, and tilted her head.

"War," she finally said. The others looked at her, sharply.

"War?" B'Elanna asked. Seven nodded, slowly.

"The Captain had said that assimulating Mr. Kim would be the Borg's undoing."

Tom let out a great breath of relief, and collapsed on a seat near him.

"There you go," he finally commented, and the others glanced at him-even Janeway-in confusion.

"There goes what?" Chakotay asked. Tom sighed, before speaking.

"Harry is trying to protect us."

Janeway seemed to snap out of it, a little bit more.

"What are you talking about, Mr. Paris?" She challeneged, finding her voice. 

He looked at her, with understanding in his eyes.

"Harry's wanting to protect us," he told her. "He KNOWS that Voyager is no match for the entire Borg army. But if he went willingly with the Queen-"

"She would leave us alone," B'Elanna gasped, her face paling.

Janeway swallowed, as this realization hit her so hard it almost knocked the wind out of her.

She remained frozen, as she processed this theory.

_Harry was wanting to stop us from going to war._

_Harry was *sacraficing* his own freedom, for us. _

_Of course, that all made sense now._

"Of course," she breathed, and looked at Chakotay. "That has to be it!"

"It certainly makes more sense than him betraying us," her first officer agreed. "But how the hell are we going to get him back?"

Janeway's eyes flared with anger as she stood up, finally regaining her composure- and will to fight.

"By *whatever* means necessary," she all but snarled. The commander looked at her, and gave a slight nod before they started their plan to rescue their youngest officer...


	4. Chapter 4

Harry was laying on the table, frozen in fear. He tried to control his breathing as he continued to give the Queen a look of scared defiance. Or as much as he was capable of mustering at that moment. She smiled, as she let her fingers trial across his cheek again.

"I am _so _thrilled for you to join us," she purred. "You won't regret it." Harry swallowed, as he tried to think of mind tricks he could preform to block out certain information. He thought of the meditation lessons Tuvok had given him to help him with his anxiety. In which he would repress thoughts that harbored deep inside of him. It was an intense meditation tactic that only very skilled Vulcans could preform. Tuvok had taught him a modified version, but now he would have to do the extreme way. He tried to breathe slowly, to calm an attack that was rising. His hope was that the team would figure it out, and come for him-someday. Unannounced, and the Doctor could unassimulate him.

In the meantime, he had to repress as much information about Starfleet, and Earth,as he could. So he ignored the Queen's little pep talk as he heard something behind him. It sounded like a drill. His breathing got faster, and faster, until he finally screamed as a hole was being drilled into his head-and fell into a catatonic sleep. 

* * *

When he woke, his head was buzzing with sound.

_So many voices_

_A hive mind of them_

_All coherent, all logical. No emotions._

And yet, there was a part of him that was self aware. A part of him that was experiencing almost an outer body exerpience. *He* was in there. Harry Kim, born on Earth. Parents were John, and Mary Kim. But it was being drowned out by all the noise. In a robotic state, he stepped out of the alcove that he had found himself in. He turned his head, and heard machines swirling on his forehead, and the Queen smiling at him.

"Welcome to the Borg," she told Harry, in an almost proud voice. "Ten of Seven Hundred and Twenty."

Kim swallowed, and tried to assess the situation. He was unsure of he should respond,so he remained silent. The Queen glanced at a drone beside him.

"Have you any luck about any information on Voyager?"

The Drone shook his head.

"None. His mand is still in Chaos Phase."

She nodded, thoughtfully.

"Give him a few days to adjust to this new life, and then probe deeper."

Harry wanted to sweat, but was unsure if he was capable of that human trait.

But so far, the meditation technique seemed to work.

In a daze he went through the motions, as he walked by the Queen as she rambled on about showing him to Janeway at some point. To rub his assimulation in her face. 

He tried to adjust to the noise, but it was so intense, and yet-deafening.

"I do understand what you are going through," the queen told him. "You are being overwhelmed. But soon you won't be able to live without those voices. Soon, you'll need us more than you ever needed them."

Harry managed to croak out a thank you before resuming his silent position next to her.

It was time for him to reginerate after a few hours.

"New Drones have to do that more often," the Queen adviced him. "The voices are especially draining on the bodies if you aren't used to it."

He adjusted to the alcove, but it wasn't long before he opened his eyes and found himself in a forest. He glanced around, blinking.

But then he realized what it was.

Unimatrix Zero.

"Mr. Kim." He whirled around, preparing to fight, and saw Seven of Nine there.

He paused.

"Seven?" His voice sounded so strange to him...

Seven watched as she saw his eyes be dialated, even though he still looked like the Harry Kim she knew-she was aware of how frightened he must be.

"Mr. Kim," she repeated. "I want you to know that we know why you did what you did."

Harry blinked some more, trying to adjust to this new situation, and new surroundings.

"You...do?" He was annoyed at how weak his voice sounded, but she continued-unaware.

"Yes, and we are working on a plan to get you home.."

"But Voyager going to war-"

"Don't worry," she told him. "It will be in a non violent method. You convinced the Captain through your sacrifice." She blinked a bit, and studied him. "You really rattled her. You rattled all of us."

Harry swallowed, and looked down, relieved to finally see himself in human form.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be," she sighed. "Just do what you can to stay alive. You are going to need every ounce of your strength, *but* ,"she placed her arm on his shoulder. "You aren't alone, Mr. Kim. We will come back for you." And with that he finally broke down, and she stood there, allowing him to weep from the exhausted riddled fear of it all, and stood there-as she continued to plot for his freedom...


	5. Chapter 5

Janeway was in her ready room, reflecting on seeing Harry as a drone.

_Kim was standing next to the Queen, The Queen gave her a knowing, truimphant, smile. The Queen introduced Kim, and Janeway's heart flipped at the number the Queen stated._

_"Ten of Seven Hundred and Twenty."_

_Such a formal number._

_No individuality there. And his eyes looked glazed over. Like a part of him was dead. _

_A part of him was._

_She swallowed and spoke, finally, for the first time since Harry said he'd be assimulated._

_"I'm so sorry, Harry. I have failed you."_

_Harry wanted to say something._

_Wanted to let her know he was still in there._

_That it wasn't fully completed, and that he had the same mutation as Seven._

_But he knew Seven must have spoken to her. _

_And that he would be putting Voyager in dnager, by speaking up. So he remained silent. _

_Silent, and apologetic. He tried to make his eyes appear to be filled with regret._

_The noise was so overpowering, though._

_Janeway was glowering at the Queen, but it took all of her will power *not* to threaten the Queen._

_"You should move on, Janeway," the Queen told her. "Move on, and forget Mr. Kim. He is happier here. And more fullfilled."_

_That stung a bit. The idea of Harry being more happy in a Borg vessell, than on Voyager._

_She swallowed, and took her time speaking-before words formalted on her tongue._

_"This isn't over yet." Was all she said._

Janeway sipped her coffee. It tasted bland.

Wsa Harry really better off with the Queen, and her hive?

Surely not.

But did she pay enough attention to him, and his needs?

'I had a whole crew to attend to' she told herself. 'I couldn't spend all my time with him!'

'But did you spend *any* time with him?' The voice demanded. She swallowed more coffee, silence being her answer.

She knew she didn't spend enough time with her crew. That she kept her distance at a partly selfish reason. For trying to be the best, because she was one of the first female Captains out there. So she had her own agenda. She had to cultivate authority the only way she knew how. Through formality, and distance.

Perhaps that formality came off as cold,though.

And the distance was too much like an empty hole that swallowed her people up.

And perhaps she placed a wall between them for another selfish reason.

She didn't want to get hurt, or have anyone get hurt because of her. And yet, someone did. One of her most loyal crewman did.

A mistake she wanted to remedy as soon as possible, but wasn't sure how. First thing,though, was how to get Harry back. The rational side refused to believe he really wanted to stay. She would have him rescued, and if he wanted to go back..then she would let him.

But first she would get him back, and this time-she would not fail. There was too much at stake. Quickly, she finished her cup of coffee, and stood up.

There was work to be done.


	6. Chapter 6

Harry was having a harder time repressing his memories, than he wanted to. The Queen was getting more agitated each day, as she had the drones try and probe his brain somehow. She always had him be put under, but before hand he would do as much meditation practices as he could-to make those memories, and codes, be buried as deep as he could. Thats how they hid Unimiatrix Zero, after all. Through deep repression.

He stood, nervously, to attention, as the Queen paced back and forth.

"Have I _not _been fair, to you, Ten? As you try and learn how to behave,and think, like a drone?"

Harry swallowed, and hesitated before answering. 

"Answer me!"

"Yes ma'am." It felt weird to be calling her ma'am, when that was reserved for Janeway. But he'd be damned if he would say "Queen."

She glowered at him.

"Then.why," she hissed. "Must you be so...obstinante?" Harry pursed his lips.

"i'm unsure of what you mean, ma'am," he responded, carefully. "I became a drone, because you said you needed me. That I would be better off here, with you. I didn't do it because I had some codes I could share with you. Was that all a lie?"

Her eyes narrowed, and if she was more used to using expressions, they would have be twitching with rage. 

"Yes," she rebuttled. "But I expected loyality for _me. _Loyality for the person who liberated you from your own repression. For the person who took notice in you, and is helping you reach your fullest abilities. Unlike _Janeway_."

He flinched at her tone, and her suggestions of her caring more about him than Janeway. But he swallowed his anger, and hurt, to think carefully of what he would say next.

"You're right," he mildly agreed, to her surprise. "I am trying to be loyal to you. It's just, Janeway wasn't very loyal to _me_." A lie. A flat out lie. She frowned, but waited for him to proceed. "What I mean is..." He tried again. "She didn't trust me with a lot of stuff. Didn't matter how hard I was working. The Doctor once called me Ensign Eager. And I was eager. Eager for her trust. For being more responsible for her. She might have let me be "acting Captain" when she was away, but even then...someone like Tuvok would be on the bridge. She never really fully...trusted me."He shrugged, trying to fake the hurt. But he did feel hurt. Hurt that he had to lie like this, to protect his Captain, and her crew.

"I guess I was too new," he added, blinking back tears. He hated doing this, but it seemed to be working. The Queen was listening. "Too young, green, niave..." He shook his head. "Even in the Senior Staff Meetings, they'd talk around me as if I wasn't there." That was sometimes true. But he needed to work on being more asserative, in those regards.

The Queen sighed, with bitterness lodged inside of her.

"Do you know _anything then_?" She spat.

Harry froze, before answering. He wasn't liking her tone.

"I..."

"Because otherwise you are _worthless _to me. And clearly worthless to Janeway. So you better think of something _quick_, before I think you're a _liability_. "

Harry was shocked by this news. He wasn't expecting her to fully understand, but nor was he expecting her to want him to die.

He could tell her about Unimatrix Zero.

No. That was his only way out. Plus it was just *wrong*. Too important to other people. 

He felt weak, and frozen in place. 

Her words kept on repeating over, and over in his head.

_Worthless_

_Liability_

_Worthless_

He watched as the Queen looked away, at some scans.

"Maybe," he finally spoke, and she turned around, staring at him. Her eyes flashed dangerously. "Maybe, I can...be a part of some meetings with you and the Captain? She might be willing to trade some weapons for you if I was around. If I were to assure her what they were for. And that I would be in charge of them, over here."

She frowned, and processed the information. Slowly she nodded.

"Fine,"she responded. "Get the Captain on one of the screens," she told one of her drones, and he gripped a railing.

Finally...finally something was happening.

And finally, he might be getting closer to going home...


	7. Chapter 7

Janeway was stunned that the Queen wanted a meeting with her. And that Harry would be a part of it. Or, more so, Drone Harry. She was unsure of if she could stomach seeing Harry in that state. But she had to, in order to see if she could pass on information to him. To see how far _gone _he really is. She quietly agreed, as long as she could bring Tuvok for safety reasons. 

She and Tuvok were beamed instantly on the borg cube, where she saw the Queen, and beside her she saw...Harry.

Her heart sank when she saw her young crewman, looking like a drone. She could even sense Tuvok tensing next to her.

"Harry.."She swallowed,unsure of how to respond. The Queen smiled.

"He goes by Ten of Seven Hundred and Twenty, now," she corrected Janeway. Janeway hesitated, knowing she wouldn't be able to allow herself to call him that.

"Or Ten, if you like," The Queen added as an afterthought. "He would be considered a valuable replacement for Seven of Nine."

"Neither one are for sale," Janeway snapped, and hated how bemused the Queen look.

"Ten, do you wish to return to Voyager?" The Queen spoke harshly and Harry responded instantly. Janeway felt sick to see how quickly he would obey her.

"No," Harry told the Queen. "I would not."

The Queen smiled at Janeway.

"There you have it," she told her. Janeway wanted to throw up. Instead she took deep breaths.

"Then why am I here?"

"Ten wants to see if you would be willing to part with some weapons on Voyager. To help us protect us against species 8472. In the future, that is."

Janeway looked truly surprised.

"Why would I want to do that?"

The Queen smiled.

"Isn't it obvious, Katheryn? You do that, and I'll leave Voyager alone-for good. I won't have any Borg Vessel attack you on your journey home. You would be forever safe from us. And Ten here, would monitor the weapons, and make sure they are programmed, and used correctly."

Janeway's head was swarming. All she wanted was for Harry to come back home. Instead, it seemed that he was going to get further, and further away from them by the minute.

The Captain finally spoke.

"On one condition."

The queen paused, intrigued.

"Yes?"

"I want a few minutes alone with Harry...Ten. If I can get him to change his mind, he will go willingly. If not, then I will give you the weapons."

The Queen's eyes flashed with anger, and then resingment. 

"Very well." And turned to Harry. "You have 10 minutes."

Janeway was stunned she got any time alone with Harry. She hurried over to her youngest crewman. She walked towards him, as he looked away. 

"Harry," she whispered. "I know you're in there."

He responded in silence, unsure of how to respond. He felt Tuvok's gaze on him.

"I'm so sorry, Harry," Janeway told him. "If you ever doubted that I cared about you..."

Harry looked at her, with surprise.

"That's not it." He couldn't stop himself from responding, and silently cursed that his cover was blown. Janeway's eyes got wide.

"You *are* here," she breathed, with eagerness. "And not just in Unimatrix Zero!"

"Please, Captain," Harry begged. "Please don't blow this cover."

"But why?" She pressed. "How?"

He looked truly terrified.

"I used some Vulcan meditation to repress certain things," he told her. "Including my own personality, and memories in general."

Even Tuvok looked impressed.

"That would be indeed most challenging," Tuvok told him. Harry looked pained instead of proud.

"Captain, I am doing this for *your* safety. For VOYAGERS safety. I wanted this meeting so I could keep an eye on the weapons she wanted to use." He didn't mention that she had contemplated on killing him if he was useless.

Katheryn looked distressed as she took in the information.

"Harry, you shouldn't have done that," she scolded. "We could have found another way..."

"No." He shook his head. "You need to leave, and you need to have the Borg's protection. It's the only way that my sacrifice wasn't in vain. If I could make sure you stayed safe, when you going home.."

Janeway had heard enough. SHe'd be damned if she would let Harry take the fall for something like this. Instead she nodded to Tuvok, who looked surprised-but only for a fleeting moment. Then he pressed a com badge onto Harry's body. Harry tried to jerk back, but Tuvok's grip was too tight, Janeway slammed on her own badge.

"3 to beam to sickbay," she told Chakotay. She smiled in relief when she felt herself, and saw her other two crewman being beamed, while the Queen emerged with a scream of hatred, and rage. Harry was fighting Tuvok, and collapsed near a bio bed once they were beamed to sickbay. It took the Doctor to create a forecield to restrain him from freaking out.

"Why did you do that, Captain?" He begged, with tears in his eyes. "You just created Voyager's doom."

"No," Janeway disagreed. "I just saved the life of one of my most loyal crewman. And I'm not sorry. Not at all."

Harry looked at her, with real fear in his eyes. Enough fear to make her second guess herself.

"No," he whispered. "But you should be. And you will be. She'll make sure of that."


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Authors note

I have not abandoned my fics. I have had seasonal depression that I am working through. Will try and be back in around a month. I'm so sorry for this unexpected hiatus


	9. Chapter 9

Starting over. High risk patient for covid,almost sent me to the hospital!


End file.
